User Manual

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KONA LHe Plus Installation & Operation Guide — Cable Connections
Connector
Descriptions—
Cables and KL-box
Connectors on the standard cable set are labelled as to their function for easy installation and
maintenance. Similarly, connectors on the optional KL-box are also labelled.
SDI Input and Outputs
BNC connectors are provided on the KONA LHe Plus card endplate for one SD-SDI or HD-SDI
input and two SDI outputs (independent of the input). The SDI input and outputs support video
and embedded 24-bit digital audio. Use SDI wherever possible for the best quality 10-bit
uncompressed video input, capture and output. If peripheral equipment has a variety of inputs/
outputs, look to see if it has SDI I/O, and use it where possible. Most high-end professional
broadcast equipment supports SDI (VTRs, cameras, media storage servers, etc.).
2-Channel Digital AES/EBU Audio Inputs And Outputs
One female XLR connector is provided for the channel 1 and 2 inputs, while a male XLR
connector carries channel 1 and 2 outputs. AES/EBU signals are handled internally as 24-bit
digital.The optional KL-box also provides XLR audio connections on the front panel.
Note: AES XLR connections are digital and cannot be used with analog equipment having XLR
connectors.
Analog 2 Channel Balanced Audio
Two sets of analog XLR connectors, one for each channel, support balanced audio connections.
Male XLRs are provided for outputs and female XLRs are provided for inputs. Balanced audio
(differential) connections provide better analog audio quality over longer cable runs. Most
professional quality VTRs and audio equipment have XLR style connectors for analog audio.
Analog audio signals are converted internally to 24-bit digital.
Analog 2 Channel Unbalanced Audio (KL-box only)
On the KL-box are two analog output connectors, one for each channel. These connectors are
RCA-style phono jacks.
RS422 Machine Control
A female DB9 connector on the breakout cable provides connection for VTRs, camcorders, disk
media servers, and other devices using RS422 SMPTE (Sony) protocol. This connector is also
present on the optional KL-box. (Connector pinout is listed in Appendix A: Specifications.)
Analog Monitor Out (Component/Composite HD/SD)
Both the standard I/O cable and the optional KL-Box feature two groups of 3 BNC connectors
(each) for input and output of component, composite and Y/C functions. The signals are
labelled on both the cable and KL-Box connectors.
Component video signals are generally higher quality than composite, but not as high quality as
serial digital (SDI).
A Note About RGB—Although RGB is used less in today’s video systems, KONA LHe Plus
supports it. However, because the KONA LHe Plus (and SMPTE SDI) native format is YPbPr,
AJA recommends the use of YPbPr whenever possible for analog monitoring. Although
component video monitors often have RGB inputs, it’s better to use YPbPr when the
monitor supports it. The YPbPr format provides “headroom” for “superwhite” and
“superblack”—and these video levels will be clipped when transcoding to RGB. Also, the
RGB/YPbPr transcoding involves a level translation that results in mathematical round-off
error. RGB can be configured in the AJA Control Panel.
A Note About YPbPr—Component Video, or YPbPr, has been given several names over time.
YUV, Y/R-Y/B-Y, and YCbCr, are just some examples. Although these various formats have
some differences in levels, they are all basically the same. KONA LHe Plus uses the modern
YPbPr terminology exclusively. KONA LHe Plus supports three different types of YPbPr: